Guide bearing seized

[Robert Hayward]

This is from a PM1500 less than a year old. The PM1500 uses eight of these bearings, four top and four bottom. I use a 1/2 inch blade which makes contact with only the front bearings in the bearing holders. This bearing was completely seized. I thought it was from cutting green wood for bowl blanks. The water in the wood causing the bearing to rust. Does not look like it once I pried the shields off though. Packed with dust instead. The bearing has more dust caked on the side that faced the bandsaw operator than the oppposite side. The shields tell that story. This could be because the cleaner side of the bearing butts up against the back bearing in the setup. Less chance for dust to enter on that side.

I am wondering what would happen if I washed all the lubricant out of the new bearing and just ran the bearings dry. No grease to attract and hold the dust. The bearings are really cheap on Ebay. Around $1.25 each in quantities of 10, shipped. About five minutes to change the bearing. A thumb screw, a cap screw and a snap ring. So it really is not a big deal if I had to replace a bearing every month. I still wonder if running dry would prolong or shorten ?

[Bill Dufour]

I do not understand why that is not sealed? You will probably find a sealed bearing is cheaper then shielded on ebay.
Bill

[glenn bradley]

I would expect heat buildup if ran dry assuming that bearing will even run smooth at all any more. I had a couple guide bearings do the same that were shielded. I ordered sealed bearings from VXB although any reputable dealer should be fine. A pack of 10 was about $12 back in 2012.

[Doug Hepler]

Robert,

I admire your instinct to repair and possibly improve, but this is a bit of chasing your tail. BS bearings fail. Glen gave good advice. Just replace them when they fail or switch to ceramics

Doug

[Steve Peterson]

My bandsaw came with shielded bearings. They cake up with sawdust every once in a while. Maybe I will switch over to sealed and see if they last longer.

I take the seals out of the frozen bearings and clean them up. They get re-purposed as fidget spinner bearings.

Steve

[Darcy Warner]

I prefer a shielded, keep it greased and pop off the shields every now and then to check them. I have some that have to be 40 years old still kicking like new.

[John Lanciani]

I prefer a shielded, keep it greased and pop off the shields every now and then to check them. I have some that have to be 40 years old still kicking like new.

Honest question; how do you manage to get the shields off without damaging them? I have good luck getting seals out of sealed bearings but I've never been able to successfully remove metal shields from bearings.

[Darcy Warner]

Honest question; how do you manage to get the shields off without damaging them? I have good luck getting seals out of sealed bearings but I've never been able to successfully remove metal shields from bearings.

Most will come out with a pick. The set up on the shields on my Wright guides are probably different than most.

[Steve Peterson]

Honest question; how do you manage to get the shields off without damaging them? I have good luck getting seals out of sealed bearings but I've never been able to successfully remove metal shields from bearings.

The skateboard size bearings in my bandsaw have a very small snap ring that holds the metal shield in place. There are no tabs for a set of snap ring pliers. You might be able to slide a small pin behind the ring and pry it out. It is a bit more trouble than it is worth for a bearing that can be purchased for around $1.

Steve

[Bruce Wrenn]

I order guide bearings (sealed) for my BS in packs of ten. Cost about a buck each. I consider them disposables. Check local Fastenal store for bearings. Have one less than 3 miles from me, and if they don't have it in stock, usually by 7:30 the next morning they do. As for quality, my daughter's Honda Civic has over 300K miles on idler pulley with cheap ($1.98) Fastenal bearing in it. $17 one from NAPA lasted about three months.

[Mike Cutler]

I am wondering what would happen if I washed all the lubricant out of the new bearing and just ran the bearings dry. No grease to attract and hold the dust. The bearings are really cheap on Ebay. Around $1.25 each in quantities of 10, shipped. About five minutes to change the bearing. A thumb screw, a cap screw and a snap ring. So it really is not a big deal if I had to replace a bearing every month. I still wonder if running dry would prolong or shorten ?


It would shorten the life, and you would get more heat. You will probably also get some vibration from them.
I wouldn't replace them a $1.25 bearing. You would just be correcting the symptom and not the cause, which is that really isn't the correct bearing for your needs.
Get some nice sealed SKF's of the correct size and be done with it.

[Jim Finn]

It would shorten the life, and you would get more heat. You will probably also get some vibration from them.
I wouldn't replace them a $1.25 bearing. You would just be correcting the symptom and not the cause, which is that really isn't the correct bearing for your needs.
Get some nice sealed SKF's of the correct size and be done with it.

I agree. I replace mine with $5 sealed bearings I bought at a local bearing shop.

[Wes Ramsey]

I went kinda a different direction. When I asked the same question a couple of years ago I got the same answers, but I had already blown the dust and old grease out of the bearings and packed them with fresh grease. Plus I needed the saw before Amazon could get new ones to me. They don't spin quite as easily as new bearings, but they do spin freely. The upside is that the extra grease seems to be sealing the shield gaps and while sawdust does stick to the exposed grease it seems to keep new sawdust from getting in them. After 2 years they seem to be working even better than when I re-installed them, probably because some of the grease has escaped in use. Occasionally I will wipe them down. If the do seize up again I have a tube of new ones on standby.

Just a thought...

[Robert Hayward]

Some interesting opinions about guide bearings. Has anyone tried the bearings billed as waterproof ? My PM1500 came with 6201Z shielded guide bearings. I have found one place that claims they have a waterproof 6201. https://www.123bearing.com/section-bearing-deep-groove.php

If the bearing can keep out water it should also keep out saw dust. Opinions ?

[Steve Peterson]

Some interesting opinions about guide bearings. Has anyone tried the bearings billed as waterproof ? My PM1500 came with 6201Z shielded guide bearings. I have found one place that claims they have a waterproof 6201. https://www.123bearing.com/section-bearing-deep-groove.php

If the bearing can keep out water it should also keep out saw dust. Opinions ?

Waterproof sounds like just another name for sealed. They are cheap enough that you can try them without much risk.

My only concern would be if the seal added too much resistance then they might not spin easily. My bandsaw starts throwing sparks when the cheap shielded bearings lock up.

Steve